Page 4 DTH Omnibus
Thursday November 9, 1989
.1MUSHC-
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Heavy metal for the thinking man
Album Charts
Rock Pool Top Ten
1. Camper Van Beethoven
Key Lime Pie
2. Red Hot Chili Peppers
Mother's Milk
3. Sugarcubes
Here Today, Tomorrow...
4. Bad Brains
Quickness
5. Meat Puppets
Monsters
6. Soundgarden
Louder Than Love
7. Jazz Butcher
Big Planet, Scary Planet
8. My Dad Is Dead
The Taller You Are ...
9. The Mekons
... Rock-n-Roll
10. Mighty Lemon Drops
Laughter
WXYC
1. Neil Young
Freedom
2. Muzsikas
The Prisoner's Song
3. Lenny Kravitz
Let Love Rule
4. Spacemen 3
Playing With Fire
5. My Dad Is Dead
The Taller You Are ....
6. Snatches of Pink
Dead Men
7. The Mekons
... Rock-n-Roll
8. Various Artists
Live at the Knitting Factory
9. Glass Eye
Hello Young Lovers
10. Primitives
. Pure
IT HAPPENS SOMETIMES.
PEOPLE JUST EXPLODE,
OMNIBUS
THE
Saturdays 7 am-12 noon
Roberson St., Carrboro
On sale will be Chinese vege
tables, sweet potatoes, broccoli,
califlower, lettuce, spinach,
garden rocket arugula, organic
vegetables, fresh baked goods,
gourmet food, goat cheese,
eggs, herb vinegars,, honey,
jams, jellies, pickles, bedding
plants, garden art, and other
crafts. As always all products
are locally grown and made by
participating vendors. So visit
the Farmers' Market to buy or
browse. Bring a friend or
meet a new one.
RAIN OR SHINE
Open 'til December 16
Some items not available on Tuesday.
Soundgarden
Louder Than Love
A&M Records
000
The first thing you see is the
black label that says "Explicit
Lyrics Parental Advisory." Is
there any better way to guarantee
record sales? My first thought was
"Oh boy, scum metal!" But
Soundgarden's debut album Louder
Than Love is no sex, drugs and
rock'n'roll album. It's a Zepplinesque
psychedelic blues-fest for the think
ing man. Follow that?
Soundgarden takes its name from
a sound sculpture of steel tubing. In
much the same way that this care
fully sculptured piece catches and
transforms the wind, the band mem
bers elegantly craft their music from
what they see around them. The al
bum is a return to the good old days
of rock the '70s before bleach
blonde and tattoos became the staples
of the music business. The group cares
about the music itself, not just the
fact that it will turn some groupie in
the front row into a love-slave for
the evening.
"Hands All Over," one of the best
songs on Louder, is a perfect example
of Soundgarden's work. To a driving
rhythm, vocalistguitarist Chris Cor
nell laments the world political and
ecological condition, pleading "Put
your hands awayYour gonna kill your
mother."
The most riveting element of most
Alisa DeMao
of the other material is the rhythm
section. Check out "Power Trip," with
a bluesy, strip-tease sound in the best
Zeppelin tradition. Bassist Hiro
Yamamoto and drummer Matt
Cameron provide a pounding, erotic
beat that drives the body onward
while Cornell's molten voice sensu
ously carresses the eardrums. Turned
on yet?
Unfortunately Yamamoto is no
longer with the group. It remains to
be seen how well new bassist Jason
Everman, formerly of the Seattle
based band Nirvana, will fill his
musical shoes as the band goes out
on the road.
Another great song was "I Awake,"
which I rather enjoyed once I got
used to the idea of speed metal slowed
down so. that you could understand
the words. Speed freaks be warned:
this album will take you by surprise.
It's got a speed metal edge to the
sound, but not the actual mph. It
may have been merely a preconceived
notion of what the album should
sound like, but at first I wondered if
the batteries in my Walkman were
running down.
These guys are nothing if not ver
satile, however. "Gun" fulfilled my
150 mph expectations and my mosh
pit fantasies. "Full On" is pure, un
adulterated rock. And I could almost
picture Spinal Tap doing the under
ground soon-to-be-classic "Big Dumb
Sex." This song is guaranteed to turn
it Tf
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klt t As-
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Soundgarden (l-r): Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron, Jason Everman, Chris Cornell
the Parents' Music Resource Center
rabid.
Guitarist Kim Thayil has described
the band's music as "zen metal."
Admittedly there is alot of Zeppelin
here. But these guys add a rough edge
to the music that gives it a tougher
sound. Their psychedelic blues is
music with integrity.
The Ratings
O miserable
OO mediocre
OOO enjoyable
OOOO quite good
OOOOO unmissable
No musical grab bag, but no progress
Smithereens
11
EnigmaCapitol
OOO 12
Brian Springer
L ,x;J;
a. wH'.i, ,
o.
n their third major label
release, 1 1 , the Smithereens
continue to refine their me
lodic, '60s retro-rock. But while the
album is more tuneful and well-crafted
than earlier efforts, the band makes
little forward progress.
Taking the approach of "The
World We Know'! from 1988's Green
Thoughts for a starting point, the
Smithereens have perfected a crunch
ing rock sound. 11 is stylistically
consistent and a change from the
musical grab bags of previous releases.
Don Dixon, who produced the last
Mariakakis'
Restaurant &) Bakery
A Chapel Hill Favorite!
A friendly, family-owned restaurant serving superb Greek i
Italian dishes handmade pizza beer & wine
mixed drinks desserts & pastas banquet rooms
Serving Mon.-Sat. 1 1 am-9 pm
1 5-501 ByPass, next to Eastgate Shopping Center
942-1453968-8610(Across from the Holiday Inn)
two Smithereens efforts, has been
replaced by studio veteran Ed Sta
sium, who is known for his work with
such bands as Living Colour and Soul
Asylum.
Despite a few changes, the sound
is very familiar perhaps too famil
iar. Singer-songwriter-guitarist Pat
DiNizio's lyrics remain almost as
melodramatic in their tales of woe as
in earlier albums. The band's lineup
is the same, with lead guitarist Jim
Babjak and a rhythm section com
posed of drummer Dennis Diken and
bassist Mike Mesaros.
The first single, "A Girl Like You,"
opens the album. The song, a crack
ing, straightforward rocker, resembles
Green Thoughts in arrangement and
style. The next track, "Blues Before
and After," is the album's finest ex
ample of the crunch-rock sound.
"Room Without a View" closely re
sembles last year's "House We Used
to Live in."
More interesting are the songs
which diverge from the last album's
approach. "Blue Period" makes use
of the cello and harpsichord, with
DiNizio admitting "I think of you
Much more than I'd ever be willing
to say." Surprisingly, Belinda Car
lisle contributes an unobtrusive har
mony vocal.
"Yesterday Girl" softens the sound
somewhat with acousticelectric gui
tar interplay. As if in response to the
charge of stylistic stagnation, DiNizio
sings "I'm not the singer that you
used to knowI used to be the guy
with someplace to go."
"Cut Flowers" is more in the vein
of Especially for You, with a quieter
sound and exquisite vocal harmonies
in the bridge. "Maria Elena" has Tex
Mex overtones, with accordion and
a shuffling beat.
1 1 clocks in at only 34 minutes
a disappointingly short set. But the
album is devoid of filler. Only "Wil
liam Wilson" and "Kiss Your Tears
Away" approach the bounds of the
unnecessary.
While J i sounds overly familiar,
it is a good album. Certainly, the
Smithereens made this record for the
concert setting; as a studio album, it
sounds a bit flat, lacking the fire of a
Smithereens live show. Even if the
band, has yet to fulfill the promise
shown on its debut, 11 is an enjoy
able stop along the way.